5 Rums You Have To Try This Summer

Duppy Share

The cheeky chappies at Duppy Share have created a rum worth shouting about. Although they’ve not been around for long, the name is steeped in rum-making heritage: as rum lies in barrels to absorb the flavour and colour from the wood, a certain proportion evaporates, known as the Angel’s Share. The word ‘duppy’ is a Caribbean term for a dark spirit and so The Duppy Share is their take on an age-old phrase. Try it with apple juice, elderflower cordial, topped up with Prosecco and garnished with mint and lime for a beautiful sparkling summer punch.

Ron Zacapa 23

This rum is aged 2,300m above sea level on the side of one of Guatemala’s many volcanoes, where the temperature is low and oxygen is scarce. This really slows down the process of ageing, giving the liquid more time to mingle with the wood fibres and take on the honeyed butterscotch and raisined fruit flavours from the barrels. Zacapa’s master blenders take a variety of their rums, from 6 to 23 years old, and combine them to create this wonderfully intricate drink.

Goslings Black Seal

A Bermudan beauty — drunk in a tall glass, filled with ice and ginger beer with a fat wedge of lime and you could be lay in the shade of a palm tree on a white sandy beach. The rum itself is rich, well-balanced and bountiful in caramel flavours. And the name? Well, drinkers would have to bring their own bottle, fill up straight from the barrel and seal it with black wax from the British Officers’ Mess. If you’re ever lucky enough to get your paws on a bottle of the family reserve, you’ll see the eponymous black seal over the cap

Don Papa

The Philippines isn’t the likeliest producer of one of the world’s best rums but the golden liquor coming out of the country is nothing to be sniffed at. With sugar cane being one of its biggest exports, producing rum was a logical conclusion. The country’s top-rate molasses gives this small-batch rum a wonderful fruity flavour with plenty of vanilla on the palate. Use it instead of American bourbon in an Old Fashioned for a much more flavour-packed drink.

Havana 7YO

Havana 7 is a continuously aged rum – a small part is put back each year to keep the ‘spirit’ of Havana 7 alive. Don’t mistake the ubiquity of Havana Club for mundanity; the seven-year-old expression is a wonderfully versatile liquid that doesn’t compromise on flavour. Try it with ginger ale and a squeeze of lime.